Picture hangers and nail withdrawal tools for use in connection therewith



Jan. 24, 1967 M. T. KENNEDY, JR 3,300,173

PICTURE HANGERS AND NAIL WITHDRAWAL TOOLS FOR USE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Filed May 11, 1965 INVENTOR Maee/ rr Z fi m 05 Jfe.

BY MI! W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,300,173 PICTURE HANGERS AND NAIL WITHDRAWAL TOOLS FOR USE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Merritt T. Kennedy, J12, 16 Winthrop Road, Port Washington, N.Y. 11050 Filed May 11, 1965, Ser. No. 454,930 8 Claims. (Cl. 248-467) The present invention relates to picture hangers with nail components and to nail withdrawal tools employable in connection therewith.

A conventional picture hanger constitutes a simple nail, driven in a wall to form a hook on which a picture wire or bracket is supported. Another conventional form of picture hanger consists of a hook adapted to be attached to a wall by means of a nail carried by said hook, In either case, where the wall has an outer plaster or paper covering, the withdrawal of the nail causes the paper or plaster to break away from around the nail hole.

Also, in such conventional picture hangers, it is sometimes difficult to hold a nail in proper position on a wall with proper inclination, while it is being driven by a hammer into the wall.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved picture hanger with a nail component, the hanger being constructed to permit the nail to be Withdrawn from the wall with minimum of eflfort without marringthe wall around the nail.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved picture hanger constructed to maintain the hanger in proper position on the wall without the use of any hands, while its nail component is being driven into the wall by a hammer, thereby assuring the proper support of the hanger in position against shifting during the hammering operations.

A further object is to provide a new and improved tool for withdrawing the nail component of my improved picture hanger, with minimum of eifort, without marring the wall around the nail.

Other objects of the invention are apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a picture hanger constituting one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the picture hanger of FIG. 1 shown secured to a wall;

FIG. 3 is a perspective of a tool which is used to withdraw the nail in the hanger from the wall;

FIG. 4 is a section showing the nail in the hanger in the process of being withdrawn by the tool of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view of the operation of FIG. 2, taken on lines 55 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a picture hanger constituting another embodiment of the present invention and shown secured to a wall.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the picture hanger of the present invention comprises .a nail jig 10 in the term of a collar having a circular base or body .11 and a cylindrical shank 12 concentric therewith. The nail jig 10 is desirably made of a suitable rigid plastic material, but if the walls to which the jig is to be nailed is unusually fragile, the jig may be made of material having elastomeric properties, such as rubber, not too elastic, but elastic enough to prevent the jig from leaving a depression in the wall when the nail is extracted from the wall.

The nail jig 10 has a preformed hole 13 through which passes a nail 14 with a snug slide fit. The nail 14 may be a common wire nail consisting of a slender body 15 pointed at one end .16 and having a head 17 at the other end. The diameter of the nail head 17 is greater than the diameter of the shank 12, so that when the nail is Ice driven home into the wall in the position shown in FIG. 2 relative to the jig 10, with the nail head abutting the end of the jig shank 12, the outer marginal section 18 of the nail head will project radially outwardly beyond the periphery of said shank, to form with the outer face 20 of the jig base 11an annular recess 21 to receive a picture wire or bracket.

For supporting the jig 10 on a wall while the nail 14 is being driven into the Wall, the inner face 22 of the jig base 11 has a transparent, coating 25 of tacky, pressuresensitive adhesive of the type which remains tacky indefinitely. For example, the coating 25 may be an adhesive of the type employed in connection with Scotch tape, disclosed in Drew Patent 2,177,627. Covering this adhesive coating 25 is a facing 26 of paper or other suitable thin mate-rial inert to and releasable from the adhesive mass.

The jig and nail unit 10, 14 is sol-d with the nail 14 penetrating into the jig- 10, but with the pointed end 1 6 of the nail extending cl-oseto the inner face 22 of the base but not projecting beyond said face. The nail 14 in this position is supported sufficiently in the jig hole 13 by friction to cause the jig 10 and nail 14 to form an assembled unit, in which the nail is retained in the jig, without dropping out, for packaging as a unit.

When it is desired to attach the picture hanger to the wall A, the facing 26 is removed from the adhesive coating 25, as shown in FIG. 1, and the jig 10 pressed on the wall A in position where it is desired to attach the picture hanger. The jig 10 so pressed against the wall A will remain supported without assistance, and the nail 14 can be driven into the wall until the nail head 17 reaches the end of the jig shank 12, as shown in FIG. 2. :In this secured position of the picture banger 10, 14, the wire of the picture which is to be hung is dropped into the annular recess 21 formed in the picture hanger and will be retained therein. wire can be slid easily in the recess 21 by adjustment until the picture hangs properly.

In the case where the picture has a support bracket attached to the frame thereof, this can be dropped into the recess 21 and slid easily thereon for adjustment. The picture bracket will be retained in the recess 21.

In the case where the wall A is cove-red with Wallpaper, and it is desired not to soil the paper with adhesive when the picture hanger is removed from the wall, the facing 26 can be retained on the adhesive coating 25, and the picture hanger secured to the wall with this facing attached. The only difference this facing 26 makes under these conditions is that the picture hanger must be held with a hand during initial driving of the nail .14 into the wall A.

To Withdraw the nail 14 from the wall A without marring the wall around the nail hole on said wall, there is provided a special withdrawal tool 30 shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. This tool is in the general form of a pair of pliers comprising a pair of arms 31 and 32 pivotally connected together in overlapping relationship by a pivot pin 33 to define a pair of pincer handles 34 and 35 on one side of the pivot pin and a pair of jaws 36 and 37 on the other side of the pivot pin, terminating in a pair of laterally extending fiat noses 38 and 39 having respective notches 40 and 41. A spring wire 42 secured at one end to the inner edge of one of the handles 34 and bearing at its other end against the inner edges of the other handle 35, serves to maintain normally the handles 34 and 35 apart and the noses 38 and 39 together, so that compressive manipulation of the handles 34 and 35 will cause the jaws 36 and 37 to spread angularly apart about the axis of the pivot pin 33.

The jaws 36 and 37 are relatively offset in such a way that when the jaws are entirely closed, the confronting edges 43 and 44 on these jaws come opposite each other in alignment in substantially abutting relationship with the noses 38 and 39 almost in face to face relationship. The heights of the nose notches 40 and 41 are the same and are slightly greater than the diameter of the jig shank 12 to permit the noses 38 and 39 to straddle easily the shank 12 in the process of setting up the tool 30 for nail withdrawal operation, as shown in dot and dash lines in FIG. 2, and the conjoint width of these noses 38 and 39 is less than the length of the jig shank 12, to permit these noses in the straddling position described to be received freely in the annular recess 21 between the nail head 17 and the outer face 20 of the jig base 11.

In the operation of withdrawing the nail 14 from the Wall A, the jaw noses 38 and 39 are straddled over the jig shank 12 by a sidewise movement of the closed tool 30, until these noses are in shank straddling position in the recess 21, as shown in dot and dash lines in FIG. 2 and as shown in FIG. 5. The outer end sections of the jaws 36 and 37 are offset at 45, so that in the straddling position shown in FIG. 2, the outer edge 46 of the jaw 36 nearest the wall A and above its offset region 45 is substantially parallel to the wall A, while the section of this jaw below its offset region extends obliquely downwardly and away from said wall, as shown in FIG. 2. This arrangement spaces the handles 34 and 35 from the wall A sufliciently to permit the hand of the operator to grasp these handles comfortably and conveniently without interference from said wall.

With the tool in the jig straddling position indicated, the handles 34 and 35 are pressed together, and this causes the jaws 36 and 37 to spread angularly apart. During this operation, the nose 38 bears in one direction against the outer face 20 of the jig base 11, thereby pressing the jig against the wall A, while the nose 39 bearing against the nail head 17 in the opposite direction, pulls the nail 14 out of the wall and out ofthe jig 10. This operation holds the wall immediately around the nail in position against possible breakage by the withdrawing nail, so that withdrawal of the nail from the wall is effected neatly without marring the wall. The tool operation described is continued until the nail 14 is completely withdrawn from the wall A. The nail 14 need not be withdrawn entirely from the jig 10, but only far enough to clear the wall A, whereupon the picture hanger will fall away from the wall. During this operation, the picture hanger is not marred, so that it can be used again.

In the form of picture hanger shown in FIGS. 1-5, the longitudinal axis of the jig along the center of the nail hole 13 is at right angles to the wall A. It may be desired to incline this axis, to assure against accidental slippage of the picture Wire from the picture hanger. For that purpose, there is shown in FIG. 6 a picture hanger comprising a nail jig 10a having its inner end 50 bevelled so that the base or body 11a of the jig'is substantially in frusto-conical form. The construction of the picture hanger 10a is otherwise the same as described in connection with FIGS. 1-5, and the nail 14 can be similarly withdrawn from the wall A by means of the tool 30.

The picture hanger of FIG. 6 can be attached to the wall A through the adhesive coating 25, so that the longitudinal axis of the jig 10a slopes upwardly and forwardly of the wall, the extent of inclination depending on the rotative position of the jig 10a. After the picture hanger is so attached, the nail 14 can be driven home in the position shown in FIG. 6.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to specific embodiments, it is to be understood that it is not to be limited thereto but is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A picture hanger comprising a nail jig in the form of a collar having a hole and presenting a flat surface at one end, a nail passing through said collar with a snug slide fit and having a head at one end, said nail being adapted to be hammered into a wall with said surface facing the wall and with the nail passing through said collar, and means forming a recess between said nail head and part of said jig for the support therein of a picture support, when said nail is hammered into said wall.

2. A picture hanger as described in claim 1, wherein said jig comprises a base presenting at its outer end said flat surface and a shank extending from the other end of the base and being of smaller transverse dimensions than said base to form said recess with said nail head and the latter end of said base.

3. A picture hanger as described in claim 1, wherein said jig comprises a base presenting at its outer end said flat surface and a shank extending from the other end of the base and of smaller transverse dimensions than said base to form said recess with said nail head and the latter end of said base, said shank being also of smaller transverse dimensions than said nail head.

4. A picture hanger comprising a nail jig in the form of a collar having a circular base presenting a flat surface at one end and a cylindrical shank extending from the other end of the base, a nail passing through said collar with a snug slide fit and having a circular head at one end, said nail being adapted to be hammered into a wall with the fiat surface of said jig facing the wall and with the nail passing through said collar, said shank having a diameter smaller than that of said base and said nail.

5. A picture hanger as described in claim 1, said fiat surface having a coating of pressure-sensitive adhesive.

6. A picture hanger as described in claim 1, said flat surface having a coating of pressure-sensitive adhesive and a removable facing over said coating.

7. A picture hanger as described in claim 1, said shank and said hole extending longitudinally in a direction substantially at right angles to said surface.

8. A picture hanger as described in claim 1, said shank and said hole extending longitudinally in a direction inclined with respect to said flat surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 304,700 9/1884 Brown 25418 1,141,742 6/1915 Wiseman 25418 1,907,495 3/1933 Brunski 24828 3,063,669 11/1962 Bell 248-304 3,199,823 8/1965 Stall 248265 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PICTURE HANGER COMPRISING A NAIL JIG IN THE FORM OF A COLLAR HAVING A HOLE AND PRESENTING A FLAT SURFACE AT ONE END, A NAIL PASSING THROUGH SAID COLLAR WITH A SNUG SLIDE FIT AND HAVING A HEAD AT ONE END, SAID NAIL BEING ADAPTED TO BE HAMMERED INTO A WALL WITH SAID SURFACE FACING THE WALL AND WITH THE NAIL PASSING THROUGH SAID COLLAR, AND MEANS FROMING A RECESS BETWEEN SAID NAIL HEAD AND APART OF SAID JIG FOR THE SUPPORT THEREIN OF A PICTURE SUPPORT, WHEN SAID NAIL IS HAMMERED INTO SAID WALL. 